403 



The Weekly Florists' Review. 



MARCH 20, 1S9D. 



and a thousaud plr.nts can be bought 

 for a mere song, but the cheapest is 

 not always the best, and a matter of 

 three or four dollars more now would 

 probably make a difference of a hun- 

 dred in the fall. 



Another reason that is often set 

 forth as a just cause for not growing 

 this or that variety is because it does 

 not produce a big enough percentage 

 of good flowers. It is a fact that some 

 varieties require more care than others 

 to grow successfully, yet. if one plant 

 of a variety will produce a splendid 

 flower why will not another, if all the 

 essential requirements have been 

 properly supplied. A 2:10 trotter re- 

 quires a little better treatment than 

 an army mula, and a Mrs. Lawson car- 

 nation probably needs more care than 

 a Scott, but boih get there just the 

 same in the public estimation. Keep 

 up with the times with your varieties, 

 boys, and when your flowers bring 

 fifty cents straight without being un- 

 packed, why the poor old mum is not 

 so blue as he is sometimes dyed after 

 all. BRIAN BORU. 



PLANTING TIMF. 



It will soon be time to plough the 

 land with the view of future crops. 

 Many florists are asked to supply trees 

 and shrubs for their customers. I was 

 honored in Buffalo ii: 1SS9 with a re- 

 quest that I should answer the ques- 

 tion: "To what extent should a florist 

 enter the nursery business, or is it ad- 

 visable that he should engage to sup- 

 ply shrubs and trees?" This is by no 

 means the exact words of the question 

 but; its as near as I can quote it after 

 such a lapse of time. My answer was 

 that in very large cities there was 

 room for florists who were strictly flor- 

 ists and could well afford to tell their 

 customers that planting a horse chest- 

 nut or a horse radish was entirely out 

 of their line and since then our busi- 

 ness has become so specialized that to 

 ask Pennock Bros, of Chestnut St., if 

 they could supply 500 asparagus plants 

 or a weeping willow would sound as 

 absurd as to ask a Chicago undertaker 

 to send you up an honest alderman. 

 In smaller communities the local flor- 

 ist is supposed to be an oracle on 

 trees, shrubs, hardy herbaceous plants, 

 pomology, etc., and culinary vegeta- 

 bles, and he frequently is, but alas! 

 not always. There are no greater 

 frauds going the rounds of this earth 

 than the tree peddler. If he had an 

 actual knowledge of trees and how to 

 plant and care for them he would not 

 be an agent for he would have a job 

 in some reputable establishment for 

 men of that ".nMhve are scarce. The 

 tree agent is as devoid of knowledge of 

 what he assumes to talk pbout as the 

 present beet investigatiT.g committee 

 is determined to end their expensive 

 labors in chaos. People have soured 

 against them and of late there is a 

 much greater inclination for our citi- 

 zens to refer their wants to the re- 



sponsible local Jlorist. If the florist is 

 a man who v&iue:- ii;s reputation bet- 

 ter thar. his proflc he will tell his pa- 

 tron when and how and what to plant. 



Condition of Soil. 



We seldom have the ground dry 

 enough to "work" before the middle of 

 April, at least not here: and remem- 

 ber one thing which should be known 

 by all that to puddle round in the field 

 or farm or attempt to handle soil, 

 ground or earth when wet is simply 

 ruination. I gave the tipper surface 

 of our crust three names because it is 

 so difficult to find out which is right. 

 When a cultivated matron slips up to 

 the counter and says: "Mr. S., could 

 you deliver me a bushel of dirt?" I re- 

 ply variously. If on social terms, I 

 say: "My good lady, we don't keep it. 

 I am very strict about dirt." If a poor 

 woman, we say: "Yes, certainly," 

 knowing that her knowledge knows no 

 better, but when they are above our 

 reach the reply is: "I beg pardon: 

 dirt, you mean potting soil. Oh. yes: 

 certainly, madam: we deliver a barrel 

 for a dollar." If soil of any texture is 

 handled in the spring in a wet or plas- 

 tic state it will remain caked and 

 baked till the following winter. There 

 is only one agency that can restore it 

 to its pliable natural state and that 

 is frost, so don't be in a hurry but 

 when the frost is clean out and the 

 ground is dry there is no time to be 

 lost. 



Transplanting Herbaceous Plants. 



The earliest operation is the trans- 

 planting of herbaceous plants, and 

 herbaceous plants need transplanting: 

 although perennials, they are entirely 

 different from the tree that supports 

 its spreading branches for centuries. 

 Some of the low growing spreading 

 shrubs are intermediate between the 

 herbaceous plant and the forest tree. 

 To get the best results all or nearly 

 all of our best known herbaceous 

 plants need transplanting every few 

 years. They get worn out, tired of 

 their environment, weak and flower- 

 less in the center of the clump, so if 

 long planted lift them, divide and 

 plant again, not forgetting that the 

 deepest and richest soil is what all 

 hardy perennials should have. What 

 you want to grow for your cut flower 

 trade and what your customer wants 

 for his garden is entirely different. 

 You can supply anything because there 

 are several good firms in the coun- 

 try who can supply you. I have been 

 rather disappointed with the profit or 

 rather the meager results that have 

 been realized by a considerable invest- 

 ment in hardy herbaceous plants. 



Paeonies are good, particularlv the 

 early flowering section that is in flow- 

 er by Decoration Day. The many beau- 

 tiful western helianthus are fine and 

 as they flower almost continuously 

 from June on they are very useful. 

 The magnificent delphiniums of the 

 most exquisite tints should be in ev- 



ery florist's garden. The pyrethrums 

 are beautiful and find a ready sale; 

 our customers like them, a little 

 change from the everlasting carnation 

 you know. Achillea is a most useful 

 little flower and has often helped us 

 out. We are much pleased with the 

 doronicum. Its showy yellow blos- 

 soms would not be appreciated if it 

 had to compete with some of the sin- 

 gle sunflowers or coreopsis, but the 

 beauty of the doronicum is that a 

 month before any of the above have 

 shaken off their hibernating slumber 

 doronicum has spread its golden pet- 

 als to the early May morn. While I 

 have found all of the above most use- 

 ful there are many herbaceous plants 

 beautiful for the amateur but not 

 profitable to the florist and chief 

 among these is the handsome herba- 

 ceous phlox: none excel it as a border 

 plant, but a carload is not worth 5 

 cents to the florist. 



Trees and Shrubs. 



If you are asked to plant any shrubs 

 do it as quickly as you can after the 

 ground is dry. There is seldom much 

 loss in planting shrubs. They are the 

 reverse of a tree, their roots being in 

 most genera in much greater propor- 

 tion to their top than the trees. An- 

 other reason is that nurserymen have 

 the shrub but a short time in the 

 nursery; three years at most is the age 

 of the shrubs that you will buy, and 

 there has not been time for the roots 

 to have spread into a neighboring 

 county, as does an elm tree. When 

 planting be sure and prune back with- 

 in reason, the more severe you cut 

 back the better results. I arn aware 

 that many of your customers will ob- 

 ject to this and beg you to leave on 

 all the top you can for they want "im- 

 mediate effect." Don't listen to them, 

 tell them you will take the shrubs, 

 yourself and your men home if they do 

 not allow you to exercise your knowl- 

 edge. They will succumb and you will 

 have a blessing in store. 



Remember that in planting a shrub 

 or tree that the great essential is 

 width of hole. Few trees that have 

 been once transplanted have any ten- 

 dency to send their roots down deep, 

 and even the Child of Nature, the giant 

 of the forest, in whose declining years , 

 the Western gale has leveled to the 

 ground, shows you plainly that the 

 roots have spread but very near the 

 surface. Go out in width as far as you 

 can afford, the farther the better, but 

 in depth it is only necessary to go 

 deep enough to have room for the 

 roots, and try always to plant a tree 

 just as deep and no more than when 

 it was grown in the nursery. Too 

 deep planting has killed many a nice 

 tree. 



All shrubs and trees that shed their 

 leaves in the winter (known as decid- 

 uous) should be moved as early as pos- 

 sible after you can get on the ground. 

 They are leafless, their roots are inac- 



